In the world of cinema, being ambitious is a risky business. The popular understanding is that cinema is an art form to entertain. Generic ideas continue to receive takers. Even in this kind of environment, there are some craftsmen who churn out films that add to the legacy of the industry and keep the fire burning in filmmakers who surrender to pure cinema. Rakshit Shetty is one such.
Rakshit, the force behind Sachin’s directorial debut Avane Srimannarayana (ASN), adds another fascinating film to his oeuvre that will not leave you with one emotion. As you try to arrive at an opinion on this film, you wrestle with all your might to keep the negatives away. Because, there is a great deal of genuineness in the team’s vision. ASN makes you think a lot about its creative mastery and it’s a film that gives you strong reasons to go back to it.
In ASN, a quirky cop Narayana (Rakshit) has to battle a feared clan of dacoits to solve a long-held mystery in Amaravati. It’s a fantasy thriller, one that comes with great experiments new to the Kannada industry. Given the epic nature of the film, the long narrative isn’t surprising. But importantly, it keeps the audience invested in it.
Similar to Rakshit’s famed ‘Ulidavaru Kandante’, there is not much happening to the plot early on in ASN. Yet, the well-written humour drives the film with steady pace. ASN has hordes of characters and many are just pawns of the screenplay. That doesn’t stop you from liking them and that’s a proof of the superlative writing from Rakshit’s team. The action overdose and the soft ending are the let downs.
In moments when you think ASN is losing its grip, Rakshit reinvigorates it with his presence. He does some solid acting. His understanding of world cinema reflects not just in his writing but even in his performance. Rakshit is backed by a terrific cast in Balaji Manohar, Pramod Shetty, Achyuth Kumar and Shanvi. ASN grows on to you like a slow burner and the film is a success of technique over story.
There is no rating for this review because that is sure to restrict our thinking on films like these that doesn’t set itself any limit on top-notch film-making. Barring KGF, not in the recent times have we seen in Kannada a team going any lengths to make a product worth being proud of.
More than favourable rating, pure cinema craves for wholesome support. There is a set of Kannada audience that seek good content but ironically turn their back to films that actually provide it. The first-rate quality of ASN is the film’s best and deserved rating.